Large caliber vs. small caliber debate

[mt100gr.]

Big bore karma is smiling down on me - a 338 Ultra Mag barrel fell out of the sky today. Lol

You shot spotters knock yourselves out shooting too far, thinking walking shots onto target is somehow good technique, and griping about calibers that have cleanly been taking game. What a strange world.

Non-stop drivel. Nice!

 

[Dave0317]

Still, because this is such a common statement against using smaller calibers, one must assume that large-caliber shooters are experiencing repeated less-than-ideal shots and are trying to help educate small-caliber shooters about this.

Furthermore, the large-caliber shooters say that the small-caliber guys have to shoot the animal multiple times because they use too small a caliber. When large-caliber shooters have follow-up shots on animals, they are proving to the small-caliber shooters how tough animals are and how under-gunned the small-caliber shooter is. Again, based on their experience, the large-caliber shooters are helping to educate the small-caliber shooters because they don't want them to repeat the same mistakes they are doing.





Merry Christmas & Yippe-Ki-Yay MF's

good observations there.

Reminds me of a handgun study on defensive shootings a while back. They compiled data from a number of shootings involving different calibers of handguns vs bad guys. They did not include misses as a data point.

.44 mag had a track record of almost all 1 shot stops. 9mm on average resulted in a person being shot 3-5 times before they “stopped”. One could draw the conclusion that 44 mag is a far superior cartridge right?

However, when you consider recoil recovery and double-action trigger stroke length and weight typical of the .44 mag chambered guns vs a striker fired semi auto, the most common action type for a 9mm…you see a more fully painted picture that shows you can more easily place multiple rounds on a target in a short period of time with the latter. Did nothing to show lethality of one or the other, just that in a 3 second gunfight, the .44 mag guys managed to get one hit on target and the 9mm shooters got 3-5.

 

[TaperPin]

Non-stop drivel. Nice!

I’m not trying to put words in anyone’s mouth - just repeating what I hear and trying to make sense out of the conflicting stories.

Big cartridges above 6 Creed = bad.
6 UM with more recoil than a 270 = good?

Anything effecting accuracy from field positions = bad.
Shooting well beyond the ability to judge wind = good?

Holding 3 squirrels high = bad.
Dialing for 150 yard shots = good?

You young fellas should help an old geezer out and explain it simply. *chuckle*

 

[mt100gr.]

I’m not trying to put words in anyone’s mouth - just repeating what I hear and trying to make sense out of the conflicting stories.

Big cartridges above 6 Creed = bad.
6 UM with more recoil than a 270 = good?

Anything effecting accuracy from field positions = bad.
Shooting well beyond the ability to judge wind = good?

Holding 3 squirrels high = bad.
Dialing for 150 yard shots = good?

You young fellas should help an old geezer out and explain it simply. *chuckle*

Mr. Chuckles,

I'm sure the members that posted those things will try to explain.

But first, please cite where someone said these things! Specifically the things YOU say have been determined "good" and "bad". Or are these generalizations that you have crafted to fit your position?

You're so far out in the rhubarb with your interpretations and irrelevant anecdotes that your posts seriously appear to be nothing but close-minded ramblings.

Do you really care that much what others shoot? Do you really believe that your round-about drivel is conveying your line of thinking and adding relevance to your experiences with larger cartridges?

*chuckle*

 

[KHntr]

Taper I don’t think I’ve seen anyone say that big cartridges are bad?

I have seen people say that less recoil and less muzzle blast are better for accurate shooting though. And they aren’t wrong.

I’ve absolutely seen guys jump into these threads and state that people shouldn’t use small cartridges because they don’t have enough “energy”. Those guys are wrong however, based on empirical evidence provided.

Shooting beyond your abilities isn’t cartridge specific I don’t think…

One thing that I have seen play out several times though, is guys who shoot a specific rifle a lot in varying conditions will be better at wind calls with THAT rifle, than they will be with a different rifle/cartridge combination that gets shot less.
Rifle familiarity is a real thing, and stuff that is fun to shoot gets shot more.
Coincidence? Maybe.

 

[TaperPin]

Mr. Chuckles,

I'm sure the members that posted those things will try to explain.

But first, please cite where someone said these things! Specifically the things YOU say have been determined "good" and "bad". Or are these generalizations that you have crafted to fit your position?

You're so far out in the rhubarb with your interpretations and irrelevant anecdotes that your posts seriously appear to be nothing but close-minded ramblings.

Do you really care that much what others shoot? Do you really believe that your round-about drivel is conveying your line of thinking and adding relevance to your experiences with larger cartridges?

*chuckle*

A lot of young guys read these pages - it’s good if they think through the inconsistencies. Many things in life are self evident - it doesn’t take a lot of critical thinking or observation to sort them out with common sense.

I enjoy the new ways of thinking, you guys are the future of the country - a little questioning shouldn’t be that detrimental.

 

[Jason Snyder]

Isn't there any hunting or fishing to do where you guys live? Or a gym to go work out at? Or a trail to snowshoe/ski?

Shoot what you want to shoot.

 

[Formidilosus]

Isn't there any hunting or fishing to do where you guys live? Or a gym to go work out at? Or a trail to snowshoe/ski?

Shoot what you want to shoot.

Is this the “firearms” sub forum where people discuss rifle stuff? And aren’t there hunting, and a fitness specific sub-forum where people discuss hunting and working out?

 

[Jason Snyder]

Is this the “firearms” sub forum where people discuss rifle stuff? And aren’t there hunting, and a fitness specific sub-forum where people discuss hunting and working out?

Absolutely. Did I question the appropriateness of the forum involved? I'm just amazed at how many pages this debate can continue to occupy and how strongly folks feel the need to argue their stance. It would seem to me there are more entertaining ways to occupy time. With that, I'll just go back to cleaning birds and packing for my next hunting trip.

 

[Formidilosus]

Absolutely. Did I question the appropriateness of the forum involved? I'm just amazed at how many pages this debate can continue to occupy and how strongly folks feel the need to argue their stance. It would seem to me there are more entertaining ways to occupy time. With that, I'll just go back to cleaning birds and packing for my next hunting trip.

My response is a general response to similar comments that get made all over the forum. I am not surprised nor would I try to dissuade people on a sewing forum discussing in detail the differences in sewing machines, or needles, etc.
However to your point- if people would actually go shoot and kill, experiment, practice, and note the differences with an open mind instead of just repeating what they’ve heard without any experience- then these repetitive conversations would be very short.


This is not about you, it’s in general-

It’s an interesting perspective to go to a technical discussion forum and then suggest people shouldn’t get technical about the subject. Beyond that, people view these “discussions” from their lense of “I have already heard this” versus- “for lots of members, this is new”.